Oil rises as pipeline to US stays closed and Putin threatens production cuts

Singapore — Oil prices rose more than 1% on Monday as a key pipeline supplying the US stayed shut while Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to cut production in retaliation for a Western price cap on its exports.

Brent crude futures were up 30c, or 0.4%, to $76.40 a barrel by 5am. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $71.53 a barrel, up 51c, or 0.7%.

The price gains on Monday for Brent and WTI follow declines in both grades last week to their lowest since December 2021 amid concerns that a potential global recession will affect oil demand.

“Oil prices are higher as the Keystone pipeline remains shut, China’s Covid-19 controls ease and on concerns that Russia could reduce output,” said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst for Oanda.

On Sunday, Canada’s TC Energy said it has not yet determined the cause of the Keystone oil pipeline leak last week in the US, while also not giving a timeline about when the pipeline will resume operations.

The 622,000 barrel-per-day Keystone line is a critical artery shipping heavy Canadian crude from Alberta to refiners in the US Midwest and the Gulf Coast.

China, the world’s biggest crude oil importer, continued to loosen its strict zero-Covid-19 policy, though streets in the capital Beijing remained quiet and many businesses stayed shut at the weekend, with residents saying a return to normal is a long way off.

Putin said on Friday that Russia, the world’s biggest exporter of energy, could cut production and will refuse to sell oil to any country that imposes a “stupid” price cap on Russian exports agreed by G7 nations.

While the uncertainty surrounding EU sanctions on Russian oil and the related price cap kept volatility high on prices, the sanctions have had a limited impact on global markets so far, ANZ analysts said in a note.

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister also said on Sunday that the impact of the European sanctions and price cap measures had no clear results yet, and that its implementation was still unclear.

In the US, Treasury secretary Janet Yellen forecast a substantial reduction in US inflation in 2023, barring an unexpected shock. 

Reuters